Ethiopia 2011 - Day 1 - Addis Ababa - Mercato

Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia with a population of 3.5 million and is located about 2,500 m above sea level, it is the third highest capital in the world.

Addis Ababa means new flower in Amharic,

Addis Ababa was founded in 1886 by Emperor Menelik II, the site of Addis Ababa was chosen by his Empress Taytu.

In the early 1880's, Menelik has his place and camp at Mount Entoto which is located 3,200 meters above sea level.

In November 1886, while Menelik was off travelling around the empire, his wife Taytu moved their encampment from the Mount down onto the current site of Addis Ababa to be close to the hot springs at Finfine, on his return Menelik liked the location so much, he started to build his capital city there.

Whilst the family stayed out in the suburbs of Addis Ababa near CMC or Kotebe/CMC to the east of the city centre, also known as civil service area after the Ethiopian Civil Service College located here, the group stayed in the downtown Hilton Hotel.

The Hilton was opened in 1979 by Emperor Haile Selassie and the hotel is surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens and has a hot-spring swimming pool.

In the morning we trekked around the city followed by a group of tour guides average age 14. They were really friendly kids, telling us the history of the city. Unfortunately we were restricted on taking photos due to the proximity of the Goverment Palaces.

New Building in Central Addis - not Pisa

Words of Wisdom Featuring Halie Gebreselassie

The Addis Blue Bus



The tour was a real short morning stroll, the plan for the afternoon was to visit the Mercato (Market).

The Addis Ababa Mercato is the largest open-air market in all Africa. It is a rabbits warren of narrow alleyways with a mixture of market stalls and stores,

Mercato is located in the narrow streets of the Addis Ketema district.

The main streets are paved and roads are tarmac, lined with modern shop units,

Approaching The Mercato

The outskirts of the Mercato

All Lost in the Mercato

Once you move from the main thoroughfare into the side streets and alleyways, you get a feeling of going back in time in to an olden world of narrow, stall lined streets full of the hustle and bustle of a market with people milling about going about their business. The narrow streets and alleys are not paved and can be extremely muddy in the rainy season even the muddy brings character to the surroundings.

The Narrow and Muddy Streets

Shoe Stuck in the Mud

 It is possible to find and buy anything one needs from fruit to spices, gold to silver, Electronics to traditional wares and souvenirs of course. There is no map available for the Mercato, one's location is based on what is being sold in the street, streets literally steaming with sellers, buyers, tourists all looking and haggling for the  best prices.

The Spice Supermarket

Spice Supermarket

Cardamon

Chilli's

The Mercato's merchants sit on small three legged stools surrounded by their wares.of grains and spice. Some of the fresh produce is grown by small holders. People travel from far and wide to sell their produce or purchase provisions.

Stallholders selling Fruit, Coffee Pots, Frankincense

Vegetable Stalls

People bring their goods by foot, loaded onto the tops of cars, trucks or by the Blue Bus.

The streets are full of people carrying goods by any means possible,

Barrels

Charcoal

Stoves

US Aid being put to good use...

Ethiopia 2011 - The Itinerary And Route

The Itinerary And Route

Day 1 - Addis Ababa - The Mercato, Piazza Area, Finfine Restaurant

Day 2 - Addis Ababa - Family Lunch, Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

Day 3 - Addis Ababa – Ethiopian National Museum, Final Preperations

Day 4 - Travel from Addis Ababa to Debre Markos

Day 5 - Travel from Debre Markos to Bahir Dar

Day 6 - Bahir Dar - Visit Monasteries on Lake Tana

Day 7 - Travel from Bahir Dar to Gondar - King Fasiliidas Compound and Baths

Day 8 - Trekking in Simian Mountains, Debre Berhan Selassie Church, The Kusquam Church

Day 9 - Gondar to Lalibela

Day 10 - Lalibela - The Monolithic Churches

Day 11- Lalibela – The Yemrehanna Kristos Church, Shopping

Day 12 - Travel from Lalibela to Kombolcha

Day 13 - Travel from Kombolcha to Addis Ababa

Day 14 – Addis Ababa to London

Ethiopia 2011 - The Historic North Tour

The immediate reaction of describing family vacations to Ethiopia, the immediate response would be one of “Is there Famine” “Why Ethiopia “ “Is it stable”

Following a family trip to the North of Ethiopia two years ago, the idea was to take friends to Ethiopia to meet our family and friends in Ethiopia share the experience,

Ethiopia does not mean Famine.

Ethiopia is developed, is stable, there is poverty just the same as other African states and it is as stable as other democracies in Africa plus the home of some of unknown wonders of the world.

Ethiopia is home to 9 UN World Heritage Sites.

On that trip. we experienced the lush greenness of the countryside, thundering waterfalls, Monasteries and Castles dating back to the beginning of time, The Blue Nile Gorge, Lake Tana (source of the blue Nile), The historic city of Gondar  and did not make it to many of the places we wanted to visit.

The trip was planned for the summer of 2011, the group was a mix of Architects, Graphic Designers, Photographers, Engineers and most importantly close friends.

The family departed London in late July, a week before the arrival of the rest of the party. This allowed us to finalise the travel arrangements for the group and spend time with family and friends.

The week went quickly, one highlight was visiting the Jazzamba Lounge at the Taitu Hotel to hear the music of The Nubian Arc. The Nubian Arc sound is a mix of Ethio-Jazz, Modern Jazz and Funk. For a band that has only been in existence for a year or so, I can safely say we will be hearing more from them internationally in the future.

The group were to spend two weeks in Ethiopia and the itinerary was flexible, a rough list of destinations was planned, no hotels were pre-booked and two four wheel drives plus drivers engaged for the trip.

Over the following 10 days, we would experience Blistering Sunshine, Rain, Hailstone Storms, Thunder / Lightning and Thick Fog,

The 4 Wheel Drives Parked Up - Blue Nile Gorge

Abey and Tamana Loading Luggage - Kombolcha

An Irish Tri Colour was attached to the Aerial on one of the cars, we got some strange looks and much attention as we drove through Ethiopia - Maybe it gave the impression that we were VIP's. 

It turned out to be a dead giveaway to our Nationality and as soon as we would dis-embark, the populus would declare "You are Irish" followed by "Are you from Dublin"

Flying The Flag

The original intention was to update the blog daily as a Travelogue and publish photo's on a daily basis. This was not practical for a number of reasons, so I'll publish the Travelogue over the comming day's.

Thanks must go to Kober Tour and Travel for arranging the transportation and providing the driverss Abey and Tamena.

The drivers Abey and Tamena proved to be competent, flexible and protective of the Group.

Thanks to Greville, Leo, Marianne, Mary-Jane and Owen for being good travel companions.

Special Thanks to Rebecca for organising everything.

I can't forget the two boys, Menelik and Fionn for all the fun moments and patience of been cooked as we made our way through Historic Ethiopia.


One final note, we have identified a number of charities and organisations that we feel are worthy causes to support, I will post details of these at a later date,